Where Louisville baseball stands after a rivalry win over Kentucky
Louisville baseball has not had the season they had planned, but recently captured a season-saving victory. Taking down Kentucky 14-10, the offense saved the pitching staff once again.
The Cardinals are .500 in their past ten games. They rank 11th in the ACC and are currently 23-18 overall. With College World Series expectations and once being ranked No. 6 in the country, this season has been a disappointment.
Louisville captures signature win over Kentucky
Kentucky is a projected top 32 seed in the NCAA tournament. Any win over a tournament team helps your resume, and Louisville needed this badly.
In a late-night duel that saw 24 total runs and 25 hits across both teams, the offense stepped up when needed. Louisville got started quickly, going up 2-0 in the first inning. A Lucas Moore and Tague Davis single, followed by a couple of walks, gave the Cardinals a comfortable lead early.
Kentucky followed this up with a leadoff solo home run while Louisville quickly got its two-run lead back when a Moore double scored Zach Davis. The scoring continued in the third with the Wildcats plating four as Jake Bean and Jake Schweitzer struggled, giving up six total hits. This back-and-forth battle helped Louisville get back in the game, taking a one-run lead once again in the bottom half of the inning.
Casen Murphy did his part, throwing a scoreless fourth inning to go along with three strikeouts over two innings pitched. Moore continued his impressive game, drawing a bases-loaded RBI walk. A wild pitch brought in another run as Louisville’s small-ball success gave them a three-run lead going to the fifth.
A long fifth and sixth inning for the Cardinals’ pitching staff, including a couple of earned runs for Jack Brown, got Kentucky right back in the game. Tied 8-8 in the seventh-inning stretch, a Zion Rose bomb started a massive five-run outburst from Louisville. Bayram Hot added a home run of his own, and freshman star Kade Elam drove in another.
Kentucky threatened late, adding two runs in the eighth, but Peter Michael shut the door. Striking out four batters in 1.2 innings, he was the only Louisville pitcher not to allow a run in this game.
“I love the rivalry. The state loves the rivalry. The fans come out. Throw records out the window. It’s usually an exciting game, whether it’s low scoring or high scoring. I give them a lot of credit because I thought there were opportunities to put them away. We didn’t come up with that one extra base hit, and then they always seem to come right back. They just kept scoring every time we put up a rally. That’s usually what you get in rivalries, and I’m glad we came out on the winning end,” Coach McDonnell expressed.
Postseason expectations
Louisville has a lot of work to do. This team can score runs, no questions about it. They have a .314 batting average, good for 19th in the nation and third in the ACC. Davis, Hot, and Rose have been the core three carrying this group. Combining for 37 home runs and 129 RBI’s, they provide a majority of the scoring power that has kept the Cardinals’ hopes for postseason play alive.
On the pitching end, Louisville pitchers have a 6.45 earned run average, good for 195th in the country. Presumed aces Ethan Eberle, Wyatt Danilowitz, and Jake Schwitzer have struggled at times this year, and all have a WHIP above 1.4. This unit will need to step up if they want to finish the season with a bang.
Louisville squares off against Clemson this upcoming weekend and follows it up with a rivalry game against Indiana. After four straight difficult games, the Cardinals will play Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Miami, and Virginia. Finishing the year with the hardest stretch of the season could bode well for Louisville if they can string together some wins.
Louisville is on the outside looking in, according to D1 Baseball, Baseball America, and On3. Head coach Dan McDonnell has postseason success, but will need to make it there first if he wants to live up to those preseason expectations.
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